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Articles from GM-Volt: Chevy Volt Concept Site

GM-Volt.com Gets Mentioned in CNET Article 2007-08-13 19:03:19 On August 8th, CNET senior editor Wayne Cunningham wrote an article with the amusing title, Chevy Volt Runs on Hype. His argument of course it that here we are talking about and getting psyched about a car that actually doesn’t exist (still a concept for the moment), although the parts are coming together very rapidly. Mentioned in the article is our site GM-Volt.com. We are seen as an independent publisher (true) who is seen to be keeping the hype going. GM is described as a bit more passive as though they’re not responsible for this phenomenon. Wayne then goes on to quote my interview with Bart Riley of A123, acknowledging the fact that Bart was quite confident about the battery pack. Isn’t that ironic? To me this illustrates the value of the work we are doing here. My take on this hype phenomenon is that this car has struck a resonant chord in the heart of millions, not just here but worldwide, and it is our insatiable interest and thirst for knowledge, and desi ...

New Chevy Volt A123 Systems Battery Interview 2007-08-13 11:48:41 (Either JavaScript is not active or you are using an old version of Adobe Flash Player. Please install the newest Flash Player.) OK. There was one more interview that came out of the Traverse City CAR event. Sam from AutoblogGreen got to talk to David Vieau and Rick Fulop, CEO and co-founder/business chief respectively of A123. The full transcript of his interview is here. My comments are in parentheses. The video above is of a nail being driven through an A123 cell. A few key pieces of information can be garnered: They mention that they are working with Continental on the Volt and with Cobasys for the plug-in VUE They are extremely confident about their technology being an excellent fit for the Volt They are still tweaking the cells, Continental is doing the packaging As GM has said, working pack this year (IN FACT 8 to 10 WEEKS FROM NOW!) li-nanophosphate can get over 7000 sin it’s life, laptops do 700 (7000/365 = 19.2 years) They knocked the idea of fast-charging (ie fill ...

Chevy Volt Dinner Meeting With GM Executives 2007-08-12 20:27:32 Michelle Krebs who is a veteran auto reporter had the chance to site down with several GM execs involved in producing the Chevy Volt. Consider this discussion the third part of the series coming out of Traverse City, Michigan centered around the CAR (Center for Automotive Research) meeting at which Bob Lutz announced the A123 deal.  Michelle’s observations appears in this report for Edmunds Auto Observer. She seemed impressed with Dr. David Cole, CAR Chairman who has a long record of being a leading automotive engineering expert. She mentioned how many times he said “Wow” during the round table discussion and quotes him as calling the car “a game-changer” (how about fundamental frameshifter). She also talks a lot about the lithium ion technology and A123’s version of it. Much of that we have previously covered in the GM-Volt.com interview with Bart Riley, Co-Founder and CTO of A123. An interesting comment was that Frank Weber, GM VP involved in ...

Interview With Denise Gray, GM Battery Director 2007-08-11 15:08:15 On the same day I was interviewing Nick Zielinksi, Chief Engineer for the Volt, our friend, Sam Abuelsamid of AutoblogGreen had the opportunity to interview Denise Gray in Traverse City. Ms. Gray is GM’s Chief of battery technology and is in charge of all battery development for hybrid and electric vehicles. You can read a transcript of Sam’s exclusive interview with her here. Essentially she explained the relationship between A123 and GM, and noted CPI/LG still has an “equal opportunity” to be in the Volt. She also expanded on the development of the battery pack for the plug-in Saturn VUE, hopefully in 2009, but she wouldn’t say that for sure. She re-iterated GM has “a lot of work” ahead to make both of these projects work. She also commented about leasing the batteries separately. Thanks Sam! ...

Exclusive: Interview/Podcast With Chevy Volt Chief Engineer on Current State of Volt Development 2007-08-09 19:43:59 Today has been a very productive one when it comes to news about the Chevy Volt. I had the opportunity to discuss these and other issues with Mr. Nick Zielinski who is the Vehicle Chief Engineer for the Chevy Volt. The full audio podcast follows below. First of all, Mr. Zielinksi was able to help clarify what the new A123 contract represents. GM is continuing to work with both A123/Continental and CPI/LG. The “horse race” as he calls it to make the better battery pack is still on. One system has not yet been chosen over the other, and the winner is still expected to be announced in June 2008. What is new is that GM will now work as a much closer partner with A123, and be more intimately involved in Li-ion cell engineering. This partnership will allow GM to have proprietary access to the cells and their engineering, allowing for better final production of electric cars. Mr. Zielinksi told me that an actual working model of the Volt is currently being built and teste ...

More Big News!: Chevy Volt Timeline Made Public 2007-08-09 13:55:01 Today is a banner day for Volt enthusiasts! All of this great information is coming out of the CAR meeting in Traverse City Michigan where Bob Lutz gave his A123 announcement. Although invited, I unfortunately could not attend, but I am waiting on an a phone interview. Reuters has published their sideline interview with Bob Lutz. He is quoted as giving out the following official Volt production timeline: The Volt’s working lithium ion battery packs will be ready for vehicles in October of this year The car will begin road testing in Spring 2008. The Volt will begin mass production late 2010. There you’ve heard it! Thanks to John Towriss, GM consultant for the tip More later when I get the interview. ...

GM Chooses A123 to Co-Produce the Chevy Volt Batteries 2007-08-09 09:02:54 Massive news this morning folks. Bob Lutz has announced that GM has officially chosen the A123 lithium-ion batteries to be used in the Chevy Volt and all E-flex Systems, and not those of it’s competitor Compact Power Inc/LG.[UPDATE: Compact Power/LG is NOT out of the battery competition..it’s just that GM now has a closer working relationship with A123] Also today the Wall street Journal reported that Toyota officially is delaying Lithium-ion next generation Prius production to 2011. GM Press release here: For Release: August 9, 2007, 9:30 a.m. EDT GM and A123Systems to Co-Develop Lithium-Ion Battery Cell for Chevrolet Volt Agreement Speeds Up Development of Chevy Volt’s Innovative Propulsion System TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – General Motors Corp. and A123Systems, Inc. will co-develop cells with A123System’s nanophosphate battery chemistry for a long-lasting, safe and powerful battery for use in GM’s electric drive E-Flex system. The agreement is expected to ...

Who Will Dominate the Future Hybrid Market, GM or Toyota? 2007-08-08 11:47:06 Right now, Toyota dominates the world hybrid car marketplace. Let’s look at the numbers. Toyota sold 4.72 million vehicles in the first half of 2007. 1.33 million of those were sold in the U.S. Out of that U.S. sales group, 146,536, or a full 11% were hybrid cars. Specifically in June, they sold 46,630 Camrys and 17,756 Priuses. That Prius number is up 75% from June 06, and considering that the Camry is the best selling passenger car in America, the fact that Toyota is selling one Prius for every 2.6 Camrys is mighty impressive and confirms a dramatic hybrid shift among U.S. consumers. Just released July 2007 data indicate that hybrid sales of all makes is up 12% from July 2006. In this last month 16,062 Priuses were sold out of a total of 28,585 hybrids (56%), and hybrids accounted for 2.2% of overall vehicle sales. General Motors (GM) for it’s part delivered 320,935 vehicles in July 2007, in that group 201,069 were trucks (63%). For first half 2007 they delivered ... Hybrid

Volt Battery Packs Ready By Year End 2007-08-06 10:02:21 Wall Street Journal author Joe White had the opportunity to test-drive a plugin-in modified conversion Prius, with Li-ion batteries made by A123 systems.  He describes the effortless joy of driving such a car, and the fact it can go gas-free up to 40 miles with a 160-pound battery pack that costs $10,000. He goes on in the article to mention the Volt and discussions he’s had with Tony Pozawatz, GM’s Volt vehicle line director. Mr. Pozawatz does not say the Volt will definitely arrive, but certainly makes allusions close to that end.  He is also quoted as saying that GM will have prototype battery packs in hand from the two suppliers by the end of this year. You can feel the momentum building! ...

Keep it the Volt ! 2007-08-03 19:23:58 Thanks to all for your outpouring of support to keeping the Volt name. Obviously, the choice is excellent and meaningful and will help the car to be the big hit it deserves to be. Nearly everyone agrees that the first E-Flex car should be the Volt, unique in name, appearance, and engineering. 95% of those polled here voted in favor of keeping the Volt name. Should the car still be called the Chevrolet Volt when it is produced? Yes - keep the name (95%) No - add E-Flex to exisiting brands (5%) Total Votes: 132  Loading … I was able to get an official response on this issue from GM spokesman Rob Peterson who represents the E-Flex division. He says, and I quote: “There’s been no formal decision as to the final naming of the vehicle. Obviously, the Volt has alot of name recognition publicly, so a decision to name it something else would involve significant discussion. That said, the project is still referred to as the ‘Volt’ and ‘E ...

10-Mile Range Volt Prototype out in 2008, 40-miler in 2009 2007-08-02 20:07:59 Just now an article appeared on Bloomberg.com. The authors cite “secret sources” (not sauces) as saying that GM expects to have an early working Volt prototype out in 2008 which will get a 10 mile all-electric range. Their secret source goes on to say that a 40-mile version will be out in 2009. Official GM spokesman Scott Fosgard is noted to decline a comment. The article points out thats GM’s plan is more aggressive than Toyota’s plan for a shorter range PHEV expected to max out with 10 miles, and we suspect to use NiMh batteries. Toyota is described as being unable to produce longer electric ranges within an affordable price range. Bob Lutz, however, is quoted as being confident that GM can overcome these technical and pricing obstacles. This indeed is very new information. I cannot verify the secret source, but considering it’s been two months since the battery contracts were awarded, and the very aggressive efforts of those battery makers, it wou ...

Will it Still Be Called the Volt? 2007-08-01 11:34:42 As we know, the Chevrolet Volt doesn’t just represent a car but more importantly represents it’s technological underpinnings. The vehicle also heralds a major frameshift in the fundamental engineering of the automobile as we know it. Furthermore, this frameshift in turn, completely disrupts the fabric of energy flow on a global level as it applies to human locomotion. No longer will gasoline be the currency of motion. Rather the utility companies will supply the elctricity we need to power our cars. Where that energy comes from will also vary, but can be generated from coal, natural gas, nuclear, wind, or solar sources.  In fact, people could generate it right at home with solar panels on the roofs of their garages. The Volt is the concept prototype for this new E-flex series hybrid platform, and it reasonable to expect that many vehicles runnig on the same platform will emerge in the years after the Volt’s release.  Other range extenders like hydrogen fuel ce ...

GM Posts Nearly a Billion Dollar Quarter 2007-07-31 10:23:41 <a xhref=”http://finance.yahoo.com” mce_href=”http://finance.yahoo.com” >Yahoo! Finance</a><br /> <a xhref=”http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=GM/” mce_href=”http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=GM/” >Quote for GM/</a> GM has something to celebrate today, as everyone may know by now, they were able to post a profit of nearly 1 billion dollars for the second quarter of this year, 891 million to be exact. $217 million came from Europe, $213 million from Latin America, and $227 million from Asia. Good old hometown North America… well, they lost $39 million here. Thats better than the previous loss of 4 billion. These numbers give ou ...

Can Green Cars and the Chevy Volt Save Detroit? 2007-07-30 15:10:13 Unfortunately, sad fact is the the big 3 U.S. automakers have been losing a lot of money lately. This matches almost dollar-for-dollar with what the Japanese automakers profits are. For example, if we look at GM, for the fiscal year 2006, net income was -$1,978,000,000 , i.e. a loss of 2 billion dollars. Toyota, however, in the same time frame had a net income of $13,927,000,000 or a gain of 14 billion dollars. In the same year Ford lost 12.6 billion, and Honda made 5 billion. We will hear GM’s 2Q earnings tomorrow at 9:30 AM. NBC nightly news just ran a report about Detroit’s troubles. The reporter noted that Detroit had seen a 26 percent population decrease since 1980, and has 31% of it’s population living in poverty. The report also extolled Bob Lutz’ green plan and quoted him as saying it’s not “too little too late”. Analysts say it will take five years for the U.S. to arrive head to head with Japan in terms of hybrid production numb ...

Add Another to the List of Plug-in Cars 2007-07-28 20:34:06 Remember Johnson-Saft Controls. They were the partnership who were to be one of the potential suppliers of the Volt’s battery pack, named at the time GM announced the Volt concept. In the end, they did not get one of the contracts, going instead to A123/Continental and CPI/LG. However, the partnership was given a contract to build the battery pack for the VUE plugin, hopefully due out in 2009. Well, now Johnson Controls has announced it’s intention to jump into the plug-in car venue all by itself. At the same time they will be presenting their “new corporate identity” at the International Motor Show in Germany, they also plan to present a Li-ion battery powered plug-in hybrid concpet vehicle. Details are sketchy at this point, but the vehicle will emphasize a new way of using space, new types of electronic interfaces, and new surfaces, and well as a plug-in battery pack in the trunk. You can read their announcement here. Competition is the engine of innova ...